good thursday morning. here's what's coming up on "early today." a miraculous and emotional homecoming for two of the three cleveland women held hostage for a decade. and a day in court today for ariel castro. >> i just signed criminal complaints charging ariel castro with four counts of kidnapping and threcounts of rape. >> an fbi behaviorist is now interviewing the women about their traumatic experiences. sensational trial of jodi arias culminates in a guilty verdict. outside a phoenix courthouse. crowds celebrated. the sentencing phase begins today. plus emotions ran high during congressional hearings during the benghazi terror strike that killed four americans. nbc's richard engel returns to

syria for the first time since his kidnapping. on a much lighter note, surfing's best ride and worst wipeout. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for thursday, may 9th. good morning, i'm dara brown. we begin this morning with new developments out of cleveland, ohio where prosecutors have filed charges against ariel castro accused of keeping three women as prisoners for more than a decade. castro will be arraigned in ohio in a courtroom today facing seven felony counts of kidnapping and rape. we're learning details about what life was like in that house. nbc's ron allen has more. >> reporter: on a brilliant afternoon a scene many feared would never happen, gina dejesus arrived home. her face hidden but with a big thumbs up as family, friends and neighbors cheered all around her. >> i never gave up. never gave up searching for her. >> reporter: just hours earlier

another reunion, amanda berry the woman who bravely led the escape from the alleged captors monday evening with her 4-year-old daughter. meanwhile, michelle knight, the third rescued woman, remains hospitalized in good condition. police announced charges in the case. >> i just signed criminal complaints charging ariel castro with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. as it relates to pedro and onil castro, no charges will be filed against these two individuals at this time. >> reporter: the police report obtained by wkyc illustrate living conditions for the women. all three stated ariel chained them in the basement but did free them to let them live upstairs. ariel kept the doors locked and did not let them out and if they were allowed outside they had to be heavily disguised and police say those outside trips were rare. according to the police report the victims have reported multiple pregnancies, rapes and miscarriages. meanwhile, investigators

continue to collect evidence at the house on seymour. a home that county records show is a modest two story colonial with four bedrooms, an attic, and large unfinished basement. >> we're truly sorry for their pain. >> reporter: from the suspect's family, an apology. >> we're so happy they have been found. >> nbc's ron allen reporting. now to another story that has captivated the nation. jodi arias has been found guilty of first degree murder in the death of her boyfriend travis alexander. faced with the prospect of life in prison or the death penalty, a stunning revelation from jodi arias moments after the verdict. >> i rather defend my freedom as soon as i can get it. >> arias gave that exclusive interview to fox 10 not long after the jury delivered the guilty verdict to a packed courtroom, after revealing she would, quote, rather die sooner than later. arias was moved to a jail psychiatrist ward and placed under a 24-hour suicide watch.

outside that phoenix courthouse, a chorus of cheers clapping and celebration from a community that did not believe the 32-year-old's claim of self-defense in the gruesome murder that saw alexander stabbed 37 times and shot in the head. >> it's a dream case for a prosecutor to get this case. i'm just glad the jury realized jodi is a pathological liar and gave her what she deserves. >> i'm so happy. i knew it was going to be first degree. she got what she deserved. let's give her the right sentence, death. >> jurors will return to court today to begin the sentencing phase of that trial. a top u.s. diplomat gave an emotional account wednesday of what he says really happened in benghazi, libya on the night of the terrorist attack on the u.s. consulate. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: gregory hicks a career diplomat was holding down the fort in tripoli last

september 11th when he reached chris stevens in benghazi. >> i got the ambassador and he said greg we're under attack. >> reporter: the line went dead. he called washington. as the benghazi mission was overtaken by terrorists. at 3:00 a.m. libya's prime minister called. >> i think it's the saddest phone call i've ever had in my life. he told me that ambassador stevens had passed away. >> reporter: after hearing last fall and winter a damning report by an independent review board, hillary clinton took the blame in january. >> i take responsibility. >> reporter: but house republicans said clinton and the review board didn't go far enough with that admission. >> i find it stunning that four and a half months after the attack secretary clinton still has the gall to say it wasn't us. >> reporter: as the attack raged on in a second assault on a cia outpost, hicks testified he and a defense attache tried to send

four more special forces to benghazi and pleaded for air support but the pentagon told him to stand down. >> i'll quote lieutenant colonel gibson he said this is the first time in my career that a diplomat has more [ bleep ] than somebody in the military. >> reporter: but the pentagon says f-16s were hours away and couldn't have gotten there in time, say democrats. >> of all the irresponsible allegations leveled over the past few weeks this is the most troubling and based on what our military commanders have told us, this allegation is simply untrue. >> hicks said he told secretary clinton that it was a terrorist attack. not a demonstration. and another striking claim, he says the state department demoted him in retaliation for speaking out. the department denies punishing anyone. and says congress was withheld money needed to protect outposts like benghazi. nbc's bill karins is here. >> we said there was a threat of

thunderstorms in and tornadoes in texas. they were weak tornadoes. this is a amazing. twin tornados from the one storm. usually you never see this with stronger tornadoes but these were very weak, didn't do any damage whatsoever. nice picture from wayne grabber there in fairfield, kansas. from the severe weather that spread from kansas, to oklahoma all the way to texas. all the colors of green and reports of large hail that was predominant for those large storms. and storms pop up over out, nevada around even the mountains of california yesterday. that storm system is now leaving us, and we should be left with a relatively dry day. the exception just a little bit left there in the vegas area. we could pop up a shower or th

mother's day. doesn't look as quite as warm and beautiful. not horrible. with the forecast, not far away, the weekend's not far away. >> exactly, we're two days away. we'll take friday. once we get to friday, we'll be good. thank you. it wasn't your ordinary chewing gum but now it's being pulled off store shelves altogether. plus, the widow of alleged boston bomber tamerlan tsarnaev hired an attorney. we'll tell you why when "early today" returns in two minutes.

other stories making headlines. a utah teen is being charged with homicide after a punching of a soccer coach. the widow of boston marathon

bomber suspect tamerlan tsarnaev has hired a criminal lawyer. catherine russell fields questions from federal authorities regarding her late husband's involvement in the attack. a small helicopter lost power and crashed on a busy honolulu street yesterday afternoon, damaging a parked car. a fire department spokesman said it was miraculous nobody was badly hurt since the usually crowded street is home to a large apartment complex and a university campus. and a veteran screen actress jeanne cooper has died at the age of 84. cooper the mother of corbin bernsen was on the soap opera "young and the restless." health news. a new poster against child abuse shows different messages depending on the height you're reading from. if you're taller like most adults the message is to be aware of what abuse may mean to a child. but writing down below at a child's height encourages young kids to speak up for help

when they may need. "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil. bring yourself back. turning now to business seema mody has thursday morning headlines. >> dara, retailers report april sales today, although only a small handful of stores report monthly numbers. sales are impacted by continued cold weather throughout the month last month but falls gas prices. senator john mccain is supposed to introduce a bill for satellite customers getting the option of buying individual packages. theal la cart is getting popularity. americans will be spending more this year. the national retailer federation said consumers will be spending $150 on mother's day. up 11% from last year. flowers and jewelry the top gifts. today's weekly jobs report pushing stocks to yet another

record high. weekly jobless claims were out at 8:30 this morning. 320,000 reported last week. overnight, sony reports it's back in the black thanks to to cheaper that boosted its profit in five years. green mountain coffee and starbucks have a fresh five year deal to trip tell number of starbucks keurig products. green mountain soared after hours on better than expected earnings. speaking of caffeine wrigleys is pulling its alert caffeinated energy gum off the store shelves. the fda is investigating the new product. former enron ceo and jailbird jeffrey skilling could get out a decade early. a federal judge has yet to approve the deal which would free up $40 million for victims of enron's collapse. and a electric carmaker tesla had a profit for the first time ever with plans to deliver 21,000 cars this year. but it's still three times the number of lamborghinis that will be sold in 2013. fiat is dropping production to

maintain exclusivity. straight ahead, nbc's richard engel goes deep into syria to find out if the government used chemical weapons against its own people. that nbc exclusive next.

40-year-old hawaiian surfer shane dorian has walked away with surfing's biggest

accolades, with the ride of the year award at the global big weave award which awards the biggest surfers and wipeout. now to the deadly civil war in syria which has claimed more than 70,000 lives. the stories of the atrocities there are tough to cover as richard engel knows first hand. he and his crew were kidnapped in december but thankfully made it out okay. they are back to investigate allegations of chemical warfare. >> reporter: rebels bring us into syria, laid waste by more than two years of war and constant brutality. we're taken to a headquarters bombed just days earlier to discuss allegations of chemical weapons. a young activist shows us video he says is the aftermath of an attack. villagers choking, gasping. among them this woman slipping in and out of consciousness. rebels blame chemical weapons, smoke from something dropped by a government helicopter. they show us two photographs,

but experts tell us these devices closely resemble tear gas canisters. a doctor tells us he treated the woman. she was unconscious, sweating he says. she had white liquid at the mouth. she was struggling to breathe and had small pupils. we're shown blood and urine samples doctors say they collected from her. evidence of a chemical attack the rebels say but it proves nothing. a chemical weapons specialist contracted by nbc news tested the urine sample provided by the rebels and found no evidence of any chemical warfare agent. >> nbc's richard engel reporting from inside syria. now to sports. the san francisco 49ers strike gold with a $220 million deal for the naming rights to their new santa clara stadium. it will carry the levi's tag. after the jeans company that got their start during the gold rush.

nfl veteran and twin rodney barber is calling it quits after a 16-year career with the tampa bay bucs. and riders gathered in shanghai to compete in the x games. they performed the tailwhip, 360-hop. the kiss cam is a crowd favorite but not at this fresno grizzly game. instead of cozying up for a kiss this pair appears to be breaking up. don't worry, though, the mascot was there to help mend broken hearts. and last night, fans in jacksonville just won't give up on trying to bring tim tebow back to the sunshine state. one supersan francisco going the extra mile >> tebow is one of us you he has class, character, he's a winner. give our guy a shot. i'll even buy that box he tried to sell us. remember this, you didn't tivo tebow. let's do this mr. khan, let's

win. >> just ahead, david bowie's latest music video has an adults only label. and "fast and furious" goes head to head with "hang over3" up next.

they say you really don't realize were you're being spoiled. well, you are being spoiled in the northwest. hopefully, you realize it and appreciate it. this has been an incredible stretch of nice, know, low-humidity air. it continues today.

mid-70s is what a lot of people call perfect temperatures. 84, medford. a little warmer. still clouds in stran. friday, portland, 81 and sunny. seattle at 79. you look fantastic there. i mentioned mother's day, we'll talk about los angeles, 81, mostly sunny, i don't think many people can complain. >> it's looking good, bill. it's a tale of two bikinis. britney spears debuts her beach body on "shape" magazine while kim kardashian also donned a bikini in her third trimester. the photo shop critics are out in full force. can you imagine anyone else playing "iron man." marvel may have a problem with tony stark for much less money. they have four or five of them. got to leave that to robert downey. marvel may have a problem because "the avengers" ii needs downey jr. to be a hit.

according to u.s. weekly liam hemsworth actor sip bling tried to break off the engagement to miley cyrus. david bowie's new music video is so racy that youtube slapped it with a rating along with the video. it shows the oscar winner. "hangover 3" moved the release to thursday before memorial day giving it a 24-hour head start on "fast and furious 6." i'm dara brown. and this is "early today." just the first stop of your day on your nbc station.

leading the news this morning two very different stories related to the boston marathon terror attack. in the "new york times" boston bombing inquiry looks closely at russia trip. investigators what to know what tamerlan tsarnaev met with and who. the "boston globe" some agonize over fleeing marathon bombing scene. some runners and spectators are suffering from feelings of intense guilt because when the bombs wept off they didn't rush to help. topping our news, charges are filed against a man accused of keeping three women as prisoners for more than a decade. ariel castro will be arraigned in an ohio courtroom this moaning. he faces seven felony counts of kidnapping and rape. a fire sweeps through a bangladesh clothing factory killing eight. this is the death toll in that building collapse two weeks ago topping 900 making the world

worst ever garment factory disaster. the white house is responding to this week's pentagon report about sexual assaults in the military. a discussion of a bipartisan group. of about a dozen senators and representatives. two high ranking white house officials on president's council on women and girls will lead the discussion. scores of spectators flocked to a denmark zoo for a peek at a an adorable new addition. a chorus of oohs and aahs greeted the baby elephant. during his public debut. the baby stayed close to mom as they wandered the massive pen. they're always so cute. >> on how to protect the elephant, they surround it, without stepping on it. >> and they're so little, given a year, it will be a behemoth. amazing how that works, right? >> thankfully, our little ones grow slower. it's a time for a look ahead. britain's prince harry is in

washington, d.c. he'll tour exhibitions on capitol hill by the anti-land mines charity. president obama travels to texas today. the president will talk about creating jobs and a new technology skills needed for the future. and a happy birthday to singer billy joel who is 64. actress candice bergen turns 67 and actor albert finney turns 77 today. on the "today" show show, families and friends of the three women rescued from captivity in cleveland, ohio speak out on the "today" show. on a much lighter note, martha stewart meets her match as she comes face to face with two potential dates. so please stay tuned and keep it to this channel for more news, weather and sports, i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today." make sure you have a good one this thursday.

. new this morning, san jose police have spent their time searching for a man who stabbed another man in this very quiet neighborhood in san jose. >> a special hearing on capitol hill as congress looks at how police handle the moments after and the days after the boston bombings. what the city police commissioner is calling on the federal government to do. >> is there any other reason he would be demoted and transferred? our investigative unit looks at a culture of fear at the imbattled san jose d.a.'s office clear out the brush or pay the price. major fines